Bateman continues to shine

Cooper Bateman already has four offers and rumors that others could be close but the 2013 pro-style quarterback from Salt Lake City (Utah) Cottonwood Senior said he's only focused on his junior season and not recruiting.

BYU, Maryland, Utah and Utah State have already offered Bateman, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound prospect who threw for 2,786 yards with 27 touchdowns and five interceptions in his sophomore season.

For now, Bateman is only focused on this season. The plan is to commit before his senior year but the Utah quarterback said he still has more than enough time to figure things out and allow even more offers to come in.

"It's still early," Bateman said. "I'm enjoying it right now. The season just started so recruiting is the least of my worries right now.

"It's kind of nice to sit back. It's nice to have offers especially the in-state offers and I'm getting looked at by some schools but like I said I'm really not worried about all that right now.

"That's the plan to commit hopefully before my senior season just to get it done and over with. We'd like the decision to come easy to me. If the plan goes well then hopefully it's before my senior season."

Persistent rumors have continued that Ole Miss has offered but Bateman said that isn't the case. Cal, Arizona State and Vanderbilt are also showing a good amount of interest early on.

Other offers are expected at some point before next summer since Bateman is considered one of the top 2013 quarterbacks in the West.

"I'm open for anything right now," Bateman said. "We'll see how it plays out."

In May, Bateman said Nebraska, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State and Stanford were also in the mix. He's off to a hot start in his junior season.

Bateman threw for 343 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in Cottonwood's 36-13 season-opening victory over Westlake two weeks ago. He threw for 276 yards in a 32-25 loss this past weekend.